An Introduction to Database Systems

This textbook introduces the basic concepts of database systems. These concepts are presented through numerous examples in modeling and design. The material in this book is geared to an introductory course in database systems offered at the junior or senior level of Computer Science. It could also be used in a first year graduate course in database systems, focusing on a selection of the advanced topics in the latter chapters

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION UNDER SARBANES-OXLEY SECTION 806 IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Whistleblowing is an action that not only can assist in exposing organizations' illegal activities to the public, but also can give employers an opportunity to find out irregularities that occur in the workplace and to rectify those mistakes in advance. As for corporate governance, it can be regarded as a structure, a system, or a means that companies set up to monitor the operation of business, to make firms' policies, and to achieve objectives more effectively and successfully. The purpose of this dissertation, on the one hand, is to research the connection between whistleblowing and corporate governance and to use whistleblowers to promote internal corporate control. On the other hand, I wish to establish a complete whistleblower provision under SOX Section 806 to prevent employees who make the disclosure from being retaliated against by companies, and to enhance the function of Section 806 to deter corporate corruption. The introduction describes how whistleblowing promotes corporate governance. The second part discusses the background of whistleblowing and employs different points of view to study whistleblowing. The third part researches on common laws, state and federal statutes that have the provision of whistleblower protection and attempts to compare their differences. The fourth part analyzes SOX Section 806 and discovers its defects on shielding corporate whistleblowers. The fifth part refers to legal articles or academic materials, and presents my suggestions or ideas for future amendments of SOX Section 806. In conclusion, I briefly review the advantages of whistleblowing in internal corporate governance and society at large. In addition, I would like to show my expectations on this dissertation, and wish that the dilemma and obstacles in SOX Section 806 can be clarified and resolved

Voluntary Financial Disclosure and the Unlisted Securities Market: An Empirical Investigation

This thesis investigates the hypothesis that the Unlisted Securities Market (USM) companies disclose financial information voluntarily. Also examined are the hypotheses of the possible determinants of voluntary disclosure that have been developed from the agency theory, theories of the firm, and the informational risk theory literature. To measure voluntary financial disclosure, a disclosure index was constructed from items of information that appear or could appear, in corporate annual reports, but had not contemporaneously been specified either by the U.K. Companies Acts, the U.K. Accounting Standards Committee, or The London Stock Exchange. Using the disclosure index to compute quantitative voluntary disclosure values for the sample, the chosen hypotheses of voluntary disclosure were then tested. The cross-industry analysis of voluntary disclosure indicates that voluntary disclosure occurs for every company sampled. Also, there is substantial variation in the quantity voluntarily disclosed by the companies in the sample. The cross-industry analysis of the incentives of voluntary disclosure employs the regression statistical technique, after consulting the results of an initial statistical investigation and the literature. The results indicate that the probability of USM companies disclosing information voluntarily increases with firm's size, percentage of foreign turnover, gearing, and the existence of executive share option schemes. Also, the analysis shows that the probability of USM companies disclosing information voluntarily decreases with the percentage of directors' equity. Industrial sector, however, shows mixed results concerning the sign of the relationship. Furthermore, according to the cross-industry analysis, the probability of USM companies disclosing information voluntarily decreases with firm's profitability. Finally, the analyses do not lend support to the proposed relationships between levels of voluntary disclosure and the auditing firm, number of the nonexecutives on the Board of Directors, and the number of substantial shareholders

Transition, recession and labour supply in Kazakhstan (1990-1996).

This thesis explores how transitional reforms and the concomitant recession have transformed the labour market in Kazakhstan and how changes in the labour market have transformed workers' attitudes to labour supply. It is found that the initially expected reallocation of labour from the state to the private sector has been a very weak phenomenon and that, instead, a sharp growth of self-employment has occurred. During a period of transition and recession, such as the one that Kazakhstan is experiencing, income seems to converge towards a subsistence minimum across working sectors altering the relationship between growth, wages and productivity. In such an environment, the supply of labour is mainly determined by non-income factors and so is the cross-sector mobility. Unemployment exists not as a temporary phenomenon instrumental in labour reallocation but as a permanent condition for the very poor. Current labour market policies, originally designed for structurally different labour markets, seem inconsistent with the nature of unemployment and unsustainable in the long run. The prolonged stagnation is dragging the economy towards a third world scenario rather than a first. Hence, future prospects and policies are to be rethought not in terms of transition but in terms of economic development

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PALMAR SWEAT INDEX AS AN APPLIED MEASURE IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Five studies are described, examining the validity of the Palmar Sweat Index (PSI) as an alternative to traditional measures of electrodermal activity (EDA). A review of research using the PSI identified tour topics which needed to be addressed, before the PSI could be accepted as an alternative to measures of EDA. The first of these topics concerns the reliability of the PSI. A preliminary analysis confirmed that the PSI could be scored reliably. The second topic to be examined, was the relationship between the PSI and measures of EDA. The PSI was found to correlate significantly with several parameters of EDA. These results provide some support for models of EDA involving a single effector. More importantly, the PSI response was observed to show rapid recovery, and in one study the PSI was observed to show adaptation over the course of the session, while skin conductance level did not. The difference in the temporal patterning of the responses shown by the two measures provides an explanation for previous reports of a dissociation between the PSI and EDA. The final topics to be examined concerned the effects of psychological stress and anxiety, respectively, on the PSI. Stressful cognitive tasks were observed to lead to increased palmar sweating. Previous claims that the PSI may decrease in response to stress were not supported. More ecologically-valid stressors were less consistently associated with elevated levels of sweat gland activity. There was some support for a relationship between the PSI and experienced anxiety. It is suggested that this may explain the raised sweat gland activity observed during stressful tasks. Data are also presented from three collaborative studies. This data was collected by other workers and demonstrates the utility of the PSI for applied clinical research

Predetermined time standards origin, theory and application.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston Universit

Agriculture in the face of changing markets, institutions and policies: Challenges and strategies

Since the late 1980s, agriculture in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) has been under considerable adjustment pressure due to changing political, economic and institutional environments. These changes have been linked to the transition process, as well as the ongoing integration into the European Union and the world market. Reduced subsidies, increased environmental and food quality demands, as well as structural changes in the supply, processing and food retailing sector call for major structural adjustments and the improvement of farmers' managerial abilities. Though such changes always carry significant threats to farms, they also offer new opportunities for the farms' entrepreneurial engagement. Upcoming changes in the agricultural environment and their possible consequences for farm structures across Europe are thus still timely subjects. The objective of the IAMO Forum 2006 is to contribute to the success of agriculture in the CEECs, as well as their neighboring countries, in today's increasingly competitive environment. Concrete questions the conference focuses on are: What are the most suitable farm organizations, cooperative arrangements and contractual forms? How to improve efficiency and productivity? Where do market niches lie and what are the new product demands? CONTENT: Preface; Jarmila Curtiss, Alfons Balmann, Kirsti Dautzenberg, Kathrin Happe. The success of gradualism: Empirical evidence from China's agricultural reform; Jikun Huang, Johan F. M. Swinnen, Scott Rozelle. Land reform and farm restructuring in Moldova, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan: A stocktaking; David Sedik. Land market developments, imperfections, and effects in transition countries; Johan F. M. Swinnen, Pavel Ciaian, Liesbet Vranken. Farmland markets, boom/bust cycles, and farm size; Charles B. Moss, Andrew Schmitz. Duality of farm structure in transition agriculture: The case of Moldova; Zvi Lerman, Dragos Cimpoies. Organizational restructuring of the agrarian sector in Bulgaria during the pre-accession period; Julia M. Doitchinova, Ivan St. Kanchev, Albena Miteva. Governance of Bulgarian farming - Modes, efficiency, impact of EU accession; Hrabrin Bachev. Leadership may have a decisive influence on the successful transition of production cooperatives - A social capital approach; Csaba Forgács. Contractual arrangement and enforcement in transition agriculture: Theory and evidence from China; Hongdong Guo. Contractrual relationships in the Hungarian horticultural sector; Imre Ferto. Contract farming in China: Perspectives of smallholders; Hongdong Guo, Robert W. Jolly, Jianhua Zhu. Are macro policies adjusted to institutional arrangements at the micro level? Some evidence from Polish Agriculture during transition; Jan Falkowski, Dominika Milczarek. The Austrian private foundation as a legal form in farm management, with special emphasis on tax issues; Hermann Peyerl, Günter Breuer. Credit as a tool of integration between the Polish farms and buyers of their products; Alina Danilowska. Who, why and how: Problems of farmers' interest representation in Poland; Aldona Zawojska. How competitive is milk production in the Central and Eastern European countries in comparison to Western Europe? Mikhail Ramanovich, Torsten Hemme. Production and trade of animal products in selected ECO countries; Farhad Mirzaei, Olaf Heidelbach. European agriculture without direct payments - A partial equilibrium analysis; Oliver Balkhausen, Martin Banse. Measuring the degree of market power in the Ukrainian milk processing; Oleksandr Perekhozhuk, Michael Grings. Determinants of foreign direct investments in the food processing industry: An empirical analysis for Ukraine; Oksana Luka. Allocative efficiency of corporate farms in the Leningrad region; David Epstein. Pathways towards efficient levels of machinery investments needed for the sustainable development of arable farms in Bulgaria; Nikolay Naydenov. Small-scale farming in Romania - Shadow prices and efficiency; Johannes Sauer, Borbala Balint. How large is the marginal product of land in the Moscow region? Natalia Il'ina, Nikolay Svetlov. Spatial price transmission on the Turkish wheat market - An initial application; Enno-Burghard Weitzel, Ahmet Bayaner. Farm to retail price transmission on the pork market: A German-Hungarian comparison; Lajos Zoltán Bakucs, Imre Ferto, Heinrich Hockmann, Oleksandr Perekhozhuk. The nature of selected price transmissions in the agri-food chain and their consequences; Lukáš Čechura. Labor mobility in transition countries and the impact of institutions; Thomas Herzfeld, Thomas Glauben. Choosing to migrate or migrating to choose: Migration and labor choice in Albania; Carlo Azzarri, Gero Carletto, Benjamin Davis, Alberto Zezza. Rural non-farm employment in Ukraine; Oleg Nivyevskiy, Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel. Opportunities and challenges for farm household livelihood strategies: Pluriactivity in Finland and the UK; Claire Newton. Territorial aspects of enterprise development in remote rural areas of Europe; Zuzana Bednarikova, Tomas Doucha, Zdenek Travnicek. New policy approaches for rural development: The experience of two case regions in Eastern Germany; Theodor Fock --

Agriculture in the Face of Changing Markets, Institutions and Policies: Challenges and Strategies

Since the late 1980s, agriculture in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) has been under considerable adjustment pressure due to changing political, economic and institutional environments. These changes have been linked to the transition process, as well as the ongoing integration into the European Union and the world market. Reduced subsidies, increased environmental and food quality demands, as well as structural changes in the supply, processing and food retailing sector call for major structural adjustments and the improvement of farmersâ managerial abilities. Though such changes always carry significant threats to farms, they also offer new opportunities for the farms' entrepreneurial engagement. Upcoming changes in the agricultural environment and their possible consequences for farm structures across Europe are thus still timely subjects. The objective of the IAMO Forum 2006 is to contribute to the success of agriculture in the CEECs, as well as their neighboring countries, in todayâs increasingly competitive environment. Concrete questions the conference focuses on are: What are the most suitable farm organizations, cooperative arrangements and contractual forms? How to improve efficiency and productivity? Where do market niches lie and what are the new product demands? This book contains 33 invited and selected contributions. These papers will be presented at the IAMO Forum 2006 in order to offer a platform for scientists, practitioners and policy-makers to discuss challenges and potential strategies at the farm, value chain, rural society and policy levels in order to cope with the upcoming challenges. IAMO Forum 2006, as well as this book, would not have been possible without the engagement of many people and institutions. We thank the authors of the submitted abstracts and papers, as well as the referees, for their evaluation of the abstracts from which the papers were selected. In particular, we would like to express our thanks to OLIVER JUNGKLAUS, GABRIELE MEWES, KLAUS REINSBERG and ANGELA SCHOLZ, who significantly contributed to the organization of the Forum. Furthermore, our thanks goes to SILKE SCHARF for her work on the layout and editing support of this book, and to JIM CURTISS, JAMIE BULLOCH, and DÃNALL Ã MEARÃIN for their English proof-reading. As experience from previous years documents, the course of the IAMO Forum continues to profit from the support and engagement of the IAMO administration, which we gratefully acknowledge. Last but not least, we are very grateful to the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Haniel Foundation and the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO) for their respective financial support.Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Industrial Organization, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use, Productivity Analysis,

Employment in Europe 2005: Recent Trends and Prospects

[Excerpt] The seventeenth edition of Employment in Europe appears at a challenging moment. In the international context of rapid economic growth in much of the developing world and sustained economic growth in the US, the EU seems to be mired in economic difficulties. This is why, at their 2005 Spring summit, Heads of State and Government have put employment and growth as the two main objectives of the renewed Lisbon strategy, in order to raise the living standards and the quality of life of EU citizens. As set out by the new Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs (2005-2008), the Strategy implies raising growth performance of the EU on a sustainable basis and striving for full employment, improved quality and productivity at work, and greater social and territorial cohesion. Indeed, linking economic and social progress is at the heart of the European Social Model. Creating more and better jobs largely depends on a subtle balance between the macro-economic policy mix, micro-economic reforms and effective employment and social policies. First, an appropriate macro-economic policy framework is important to reassure consumers and entrepreneurs and help maintain or restore high levels of demand. Second, reform of product markets and achieving a fully integrated economic area would bolster economic activity and thus trigger employment creation. Third, effective employment and social policies are crucial elements to attract and retain more people in employment, to improve the adaptability of workers and enterprises in the context of rapid economic change, and to increase investment in human capital through better education and skills. Action is all the more necessary in the EU in the context of current demographic trends, as the working age population will gradually diminish. These issues will feature prominently in the National Reform Programmes which Member States will adopt this autumn. Against this background, the current report sees encouraging signs of global economic recovery which should spill over and benefit Europe, if Europe actively enacts further reforms and does not simply wait for growth to appear. The benefits from such structural reforms, which have already translated into structural improvements in the past few years, should not be jeopardised by inaction. Five issues developed in detail are politically prominent. • The findings confirm that macro-economic, micro-economic and employment policies go hand in hand to deliver more and better jobs. • Overall, positive employment prospects depend on the economic cycle and on improvements in domestic demand, especially in some larger countries in the EU. • Particular concerns remain regarding the unemployment situation of young people; this is in large part why the European Council recently adopted the Youth Pact. • In the face of an ageing and declining workforce, Europe still has a large potential labour reserve to draw upon; this should receive urgent priority. • Attention must be paid to social inclusion and cohesion, preventing exclusion from the labour market and reducing regional disparities in terms of employment, unemployment and earnings, as there are worrying signs that the recent economic slowdown may have affected Europe’s record in this regard